Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts

Bridge of Rama is about the coming of age of Hanuman. The little vanar warrior from Armies of Hanuman has been entrusted with enlisting to Rama's aid, the biggest vanar fighting force in history. An army that will raze Lanka to the ground and rid the world of rakshahas forever. 

Rama and Lakshman wait at the southern tip of the continent waiting for this force to appear. They face the ocean and the 100 miles to the Lankan landmass seems like an unsurpassable distance. The vanars, as a race, are afraid of the ocean and Lakshman is less than confident about the fighting skills of this undisciplined "army" in the face of the most formidable and ruthless warriors on prithvilok. And then, Hanuman arrives. 


No one recognizes Hanuman. He, in no way, resembles the scrawny little vanar who met Rama at Janasthana in the previous book. Through a secret transformation, yet to be revealed, he is as tall as a man, powerfully muscled and the paragon of strength. And he brings with him, a janaya-sena, a generation army. It is army that consists of every vanar, man, woman and youngling, capable of fighting. Every vanar in existence is pressed into service with only one objective in mind, the liberation of Sita. And in addition, he has a surprise, a massive army of rkssas or bears, one of the most powerful creatures in the animal kingdom. 


Simultaneously, we also follow how Sita's coping in Lanka as a prisoner. Ravana's trying his best to seduce Sita by being an understanding and almost sympathetic captor. Mandhodhari, on the other hand, has a different view of Sita and sees her as a seductress who's got evil designs to be the next Lankan queen. 


The vanar-rksaa army begins trying to build the bridge of Rama from the southern tip of the Indian continent to Lanka. This is a hugely challenging task as hundreds of animals push massive boulders in an attempt to make the passageway. However, during one such move, a boulder comes loose and starts tumbling towards Rama. Hanuman, seeing this, manifests a power whereby he expands himself to triple his size and saves Rama. He says he doesn't know how he did but that it was by thinking of Rama that he could. At this point, Jambavan, the king of the bears reveals that Hanuman is no ordinary vanar. He is the child of Vayu, the wind god and the apsara, Anjani. He is, in essence, a demi-god, and it was his devotion for Rama that awakened his power. 


That night, as the army sleeps, Rama is visited by the spirit of Dasaratha, who tells him that if Rama did not save Sita the same night, she would perish and the bridge and the army would be for naught. Rama then asks Hanuman to fly to Lanka to bring back his bride. 


Hanuman, using his newfound power, grows himself to a hundred times his size and leaps over to Lanka to rescue Sita. 


The rest of the book details Hanuman's encounted with Sita and Ravana and the havoc he wreaks on behalf of Rama. His decimation of Rakshasha legions and his threat to bring an army back that would reduce Lanka to rubble. 


I'm almost done with the set. I'm on Book 6 now, The King of Ayodhya. :)


By the way, one curious little side-note to this post. I was looking up Rama's Bridge on Google and I came across this. 

These are aerial and satellite images of Adam's Bridge or Rama's Bridge that "is a chain of limestone shoals, between the islands of Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka. Geological evidence indicates that this bridge is a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka.^"

It was reportedly passable on foot till the 15th century at which time, storms deepened the channel. Which kinda makes you think, doesn't it? :)

The tale continues...


When we left our heroes at the end of Demons of Chitrakut, they had just started a long, bloody war with one battalion of Asuras who survived the decimation of the Brahm-astra. The 14,000 strong force had come to take revenge for the mutilation of Supanakha and to claim the head of their mortal enemy, Rama. However, unexpectedly, Rama, Sita and Lakshman were suddenly joined by outlaws and other inhabitants of Chitrakut who pledged their swords to the cause of Rama. Outnumbered 50 to 1, Rama tells his people that they will wage a guerrilla war against the Rakshasas which might be bloody and long but will ultimately lead to victory for the forces of good.

Banker's fourth installment of The Ramayana consists primarily of three acts. The first scene opens 13 years after the last frame of the previous book. Rama's forces have valiantly fought the Rakshasa army using the cover of the land to bring their numbers down to a still formidable 2000. The Asuras are now lead by a extremely smart general called Trisirias (the three-headed one). He has studied Rama's movements over the past decade and has finally figured out how to crush them. Rama and his rag-tag band make one final stand at the Battle of Janasthana. They are also watched closely by a vanar (monkey) warrior, Hanuman, who's reporting on the legendary warrior to his tribe chief, Sugreeva.


The second act is post the Battle. After a stunning victory for the forces of good over evil, Rama, Sita and Lakshman enjoy the last few months of their exile and are eagerly awaiting the return to Ayodhya and the life they were denied over a decade ago. This act also talks of the resurrection of Ravana and the resurgence of Lanka as a force to be reckoned with. But to deal with the Princes of Ayodhya, Ravana decides to take the less direct route of confrontation and decides to kidnap Sita instead. This is probably the part of the Ramayana that almost everyone knows about. The deception and the act that leads to the main battle of the Ramayana.


The third act is the brothers enlisting the help of the vanars, a half-simian race who live in the jungles close to Chitrakut. Already, their names and deeds are a part of legend, so when Rama and Lakshman come to seek the help of the vanar king, Sugreeva, they make one deal. They will help him regain his lost throne from his brother, Vali. In return, Sugreeva must help Rama and Lakshman attack Lanka and free Sita. They are viewed with a slight distrust but eventually win the vanar's trust with the aid of Hanuman.


After a pitched fight between Rama and Vali, Sugreeva tells Rama that he and the rest of Vanar-kind will help Rama fight Ravana and get the love of his life back. He then sends Hanuman and a few other vanar generals to recruit as many vanars as possible to Rama's aid. They set out to recruit the armies of Hanuman. 


God, I can just feel this book building the pace for what will be the mother of all battles. On to book 5, The Bridge of Rama.

I know it's been a long time since I posted anything but I've been super busy. Lots of things happening which have something to do with my absence. But I shall elaborate on those later.

For now, I'd like to say, I completed Book 2 of The Ramayana series by Ashok K Banker and yet again, it was excellent.

Book 2 picks up moments after Book 1 left off. The Princes of Ayodhya have vanquished the Asura Tataka and have fulfilled their servitude to the Brahmarishi Vishwamitra, or so they think.

News has reached the Arya nations of the advance of an Asura horde sweeping across the country, heading straight for the defenseless Arya nation of Mithila, home of Janaka and his four daughters. After the last Asura war, Janaka has turned his entire nation to the pursuit of one thing, enlightenment. It is in this pursuit that the army was, for all intents and purposes, disbanded and ritual and pooja became the mainstay of the populace along with the pursuit of a higher state of dharma.

Vishwamitra informs the young princes that the next road on the way to stopping Ravana lies in Mithila. He doesn't inform them till much later that this is the target of the ten million strong Asura horde that threatens to wipe out the defenseless Arya nation.

Along the way, they meet new friends, face more perilous missions and finally, enter the Swayamvar of the Princess Sita on the eve of the Asuras landing at Mithila. It is there that Ravana, in disguise, tries to steal Sita away by winning the competition only to be bested by Rama at the last moment. The challenge is to lift the Bow of Shiva (which is iron cast and weighs 500 kilos), string it and shoot at a target. Rama steps in to challenge the demon king and bests him, thereby winning Sita's hand and also tying their fate together.

But is there a point? The mainstay of the Asura army is knocking at their doorstep (literally) and there is virtually no time to call on allies or reinforcements as every nation is too busy getting their own armies on alert. So, the Rajkumars' Vajra (50 horses and a few elephant), the two Princes, the Brahmarishi and a host of sadhus face what looks like a lost cause.

Or is it?

This is another tale resplendent with Vedic mythology, more tales of good vs. evil while the two brothers march along their preordained path to glory, hand in hand with dharma.

It is little known whether Rama was a real historical figure whose acts of bravery were so legendary that he went down as an incarnation of Vishnu or whether he was a complete fabrication of Valmiki, the robber turned saint who recieved the divine story from Ganesha.

Here is an excerpt from the Author's Note:

Adi-kavya: The first retelling

Some three thousand years ago, a sage named Valmiki lived in a remote forest ashram, practising austerities with his disciples. One day, the wandering sage Narada visited the ashram and was asked by Valmiki if he knew of a perfect man. Narada said, indeed, he did know of such a person, and then told Valmiki and his disciples a story of an ideal man.

Some days later, Valmiki happened to witness a hunter killing a kraunchya bird. The crane’s partner was left desolate, and cried inconsolably. Valmiki was overwhelmed by anger at the hunter’s action, and sorrow at the bird’s loss. He felt driven to do something rash, but controlled himself with difficulty.

After his anger and sorrow subsided, he questioned his outburst. After so many years of practising meditation and austerities, he had still not been able to master his own emotions. Was it even possible to do so? Could any person truly become a master of his passions? For a while he despaired, but then he recalled the story Narada had told him. He thought about the implications of the story, about the choices made by the protagonist and how he had indeed shown great mastery of his own thoughts, words, deeds and feelings. Valmiki felt inspired by the recollection and was filled with a calm serenity such as he had never felt before.

As he recollected the tale of that perfect man of whom Narada had spoken, he found himself reciting it in a particular cadence and rhythm. He realized that this rhythm or metre corresponded to the warbling cries of the kraunchya bird, as if in tribute to the loss that had inspired his recollection. At once, he resolved to compose his own version of the story, using the new form of metre, that others might hear it and be as inspired as he was.

But Narada’s story was only a bare narration of the events, a mere plot outline as we would call it today. In order to make the story attractive and memorable to ordinary listeners, Valmiki would have to add and embellish considerably, filling in details and inventing incidents from his own imagination. He would have to dramatize the whole story in order to bring out the powerful dilemmas faced by the protagonist.

But what right did he have to do so? After all, this was not his story. It was a tale told to him. A tale of a real man and real events. How could he make up his own version of the story?

At this point, Valmiki was visited by Lord Brahma Himself. The Creator told him to set his worries aside and begin composing the work he had in mind. Here is how Valmiki quoted Brahma’s exhortation to him, in an introductory passage not unlike this one that you are reading right now:

Recite the tale of Rama … as you heard it told by Narada. Recite the deeds of Rama that are already known as well as those that are not, his adventures … his battles … the acts of Sita, known and unknown. Whatever you do not know will become known to you. Never will your words be inappropriate. Tell Rama’s story … that it may prevail on earth for as long as the mountains and the rivers exist.

Valmiki needed no further urging. He began composing his poem. He titled it, Rama-yana, meaning literally, The Movements (or Travels) of Rama.

And another book done. And this time, I finished it in record time, I'm proud to say. I completed the 500-odd pages of Prince of Ayodhya in one day. I started the book in the morning on the bus ride to work and was done by the time I hit the sack later that night. I read it at lunch, in the loo, on the bus ride back and any other spare moment I got. And the reason is, for the first time in a LONG time, I just couldn't put the book down. It was brilliant. It took me back to the days when I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I used to read it in class, during lunch, in the loo (yes, that's where the best reading is done). The writing was brilliant, the subject riveting and the characters, real and relatable. "How," you might ask, "are characters from a 3000 year old epic relatable?" To which I would say... READ THE BOOK. No, really. It was a contemporary look at the legendary classic The Ramayana. Ashok Banker took a few liberties, sure, but then again, who doesn't? And the result is a story that is gritty, full of adventure, fantasy & drama with just the right mix of mythology thrown in.

I have just finished another book and this one is quite the contrast to my recently completed Wodehouse classic. 2001 A Space Odyssey has been called one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time and one of the greatest movies of all time. Just as well because both the book and the movie were written almost simultaneously.

Both Poole and Bowman fall in to a routine that, if all goes well, will not be disturbed for a few years until they hit Saturn orbit. Then the remaining astronauts are woken up and research commences. But, of course, something goes wrong. HAL starts malfunctioning and reporting errors when there are none. When the two, after much deliberation, decide to disconnect HAL, the computer takes matters into its own hands and kills Poole when he ventures outside the ship for some repair work. Bowman who is inside tries waking up another astronaut for help, at which time HAL opens the airlocks and vents the ship's atmosphere trying to kill Bowman and hence protect himself. Bowman manages to survive and disconnects HAL.

Here, you have your Frankenstein complex come into play. Man builds something more advanced than he is but it eventually turns on him and it is his own undoing. Now, with HAL no longer a threat and the remaining astronauts are all dead, Mission Control tells him that the purpose wasn't just a study of Saturn but that it was a mission of paramount significance. The monolith, before it fell silent, had sent one strong burst of energy in the direction of Saturn and to Japetus (a moon of Saturn) in particular. It was kept hush-hush but the hibernating astronauts were trained to study whatever it was the monolith was trying to communicate with. With the usual human paranoia, they wonder if it's an alarm sent out setting into motion an advancing army of aliens or just a simple signal. Since he's the sole survivor of the mission crew, he must find out what is out there, in the name of humanity.

Bowman, amazed at first, accepts this and again falls into a routine till Saturn orbit is achieved. He's overwhelmed by the fact that he is to be the representative for all humankind, for better or for worse. As they approach Japetus, Bowman keeps wondering what awaits him and he finds out soon enough. As he hits orbit, he finds something that is nothing short of astounding.

On the surface of Japetus is another monolith far larger than its little cousin on the moon. This one is 2000 feet high and proportional in every other way to the moon monolith. And as Bowman flies towards it to investigate, it awakens after 3 million years of waiting. It accesses its instructions as to what to do when this eventuality happens and opens up to let him in. It is a Star Gate.

Bowman falls through sending one last signal to Earth before he vanishes. He says, "The thing's hollow - it goes on for ever - and - oh my God - it's full of stars!"

He is then transported through sights and sounds that defy human comprehension. He passes stars, galaxies, nebulae and astronomical phenomena that are beyond our wildest dreams. He sees ancient abandoned space ports and ship yards until finally, he falls into a star. A red sun where he sees brilliant lights and lands in a hotel lobby. It's a perfect recreation of what a hotel would look like in any city in America. At closer inspection, he sees that it's all fake. A phone book with nothing inside, cereal boxes that outwardly look like Earth brands but filled with an alien substance. He believes that if the aliens would wanted to have killed him, all they needed to do was to let space take him. He lies down after a while and as he sleeps, his entire life flashes before him in reverse order. He dreams with clear vividness, all the important events in his life and realizes that all his memories are being drained and stored and he feels himself changing. The same creatures that created the monolith are probing him the way the monolith did to the ape-men and Moon Watcher but this time with a different objective. To push man to the next stage of evolution. He opens his eyes as a being of pure energy. He is the Star Child.


















He exists in space and time as a being that is both immortal and omnipotent. He then encounters other energy beings that show him how to jump through space and all its dimensions (not just three) with ease and he realizes that the Universe is his playground.

He returns to Earth and as he approaches, the nations of the world panic and launch their nuclear warheads at this new entity that is coming at them. With a thought. he destroys all the warheads on the planet. And just like Moon Watcher before him, he's the master of the world and wonder what he will do next. "I'll think of something.", he says to himself.


I find the entire story and premise fascinating. I have always thought (like other sci-fi fans, I'm sure) that when the human potential is completely realized (we utilize 100% of our brain), we will achieve something akin to Godhood. We will be capable of acts and feats that, right now, we attribute to the supernatural and impossible. I would love to be David Bowman and achieve control over mind & matter and have all the knowledge of the stars at my fingertips.

For anybody who loves science fiction, don't miss it.